By Nandita Bose and Doina Chiacu
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump doubled down on his attacks against Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene on Sunday, dismissing her claim that his criticism was endangering her and saying he did not believe anyone was targeting her.
Greene said on Saturday that Trump’s online criticism had unleashed a surge of threats directed at her. On Sunday morning, she told CNN that Trump calling her a traitor was the “most hurtful” part of his remarks.
Trump repeated the insult hours later. “Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Greene,” he said, referring to the lawmaker. “I don’t think her life is in danger…I don’t think anybody cares about her,” the president told reporters before boarding Air Force One on Sunday night for a return to Washington, D.C. from his Mar-a-Lago social club in Florida.
Greene, a U.S. House of Representatives member from Georgia who was long known as a Trump loyalist, has recently taken positions at odds with the president. She said on Saturday she has been contacted by private security firms warning about her safety and that harsh attacks against her have previously resulted in death threats.
She attributed her split with the president to her support for releasing records related to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump has dismissed the furor over the Epstein case as a “hoax” pushed by Democrats, but Greene on Wednesday was one of only four House Republicans who joined Democrats in signing a petition to force a vote on releasing the full Justice Department files related to Epstein.
The dramatic rupture between two longtime allies suggests a deeper fracture within Trump’s Republican base and raises questions about the stability of his support on the far right of the ideological spectrum.
Trump broke with Greene on Friday night in a withering social media post in which he referred to Greene as “Wacky” and a “ranting lunatic” who complained he would not take her calls.
He continued his criticism of her with more social media posts over the weekend, calling her a “Lightweight Congresswoman,” “Traitor” and a “disgrace” to the Republican Party.
The president also wrote that conservative voters in Greene’s district might consider a primary challenger and that he would support the right candidate against her in next year’s congressional election.
Despite his attacks on Greene, Trump on Sunday night wrote on social media that “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide …”
Over the weekend, Trump had persistently pushed back against reporters’ questions about releasing the Epstein files. Reflecting his often combative relationship with media, at one point he said “quiet, quiet piggy” in response to a question from a female reporter.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment on the clash between Greene and Trump or his remarks to the reporter.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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